1. Make the previous numbers work. Kristin and the entire team have put massive amounts of time into the project, and they all expect you to be a team player. You don’t want to let them down. Besides, this project is a great opportunity for you in a highly visible position.
2. Stick to your principles, and refuse to fudge the numbers. Tell Kristin you will work overtime to help develop an alternate proposal that stays within the budget by providing more training to employees who work directly with customers and fewer training hours for those who don’t have direct customer contact.
3. Go to the team and tell them what you’ve been asked to do. If they refuse to support you, threaten to reveal the true numbers to the CEO and board members.

Sara MacIntosh recently joined MicroPhone, a large telecommunications company, to take over the implementation of a massive customer service training project. The program was created by Kristin Cole, head of human resources and Sara’s new boss. According to the grapevine, Kristin was hoping this project alone would give her the “star quality” she needed to earn a coveted promotion. Industry competition was heating up, and MicroPhone’s strategy called for being the best at customer service, which meant having the most highly trained people in the industry, especially those who worked directly with customers. Kristin’s new training program called for an average of one full week of intense customer service training for each of 3,000 people and had a price tag of about $40 million.